[Monson Mavunkal Fake Antiques scam] Kerala High Court allows Enforcement Directorate to be party to case

The Kerala High Court on Friday allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to be made party to a case before the Court concerning the fake antiques scam perpetrated by one Monson Mavunkal, who has now gained wide notoriety across the State (Ajith EV v Commissioner of Police).Justice Devan Ramachandran issued the order and recorded the submission of Central Government Counsel Jaishankar V Nair that an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) has been registered and the investigation has already begun into Mavunkal's alleged nefarious dealings..Nair also informed the Court that if Mavunkal has committed offences along with one Anitha Pillai, the global coordinator of an expatriate organisation who is allegedly involved, then the involvement of other agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the probe might be necessary.More developments on this aspect will be submitted to the Court at the next hearing..The Court has consistently taken a very serious view of the matter, which now seems to involve not just top police officials but also an expat organisation and a conman who was at liberty to travel abroad."The sum total of what I have observed above is that prima facie there appears to be much more than what meets the eye. Of course, the investigation is going on but the real question as I have already posed above is whether agencies outside Kerala need to involved particularly when the State police chief himself says that a dubious antique dealer was travelling abroad all the time," the Court had said in its previous order..Even Prime Minister had to go abroad to bring back our antiques: Kerala High Court in fake antique scam.The order came on a petition filed by one Ajith EV seeking police protection as he was engaged as Mavunkal's driver and later allegedly provided information to the authorities against his employer.The nature of the petitioner's allegations grew darker with claims of threats and intimidation from police officers who were supposedly involved with Mavunkal.In October, some pictures had surfaced in the media that showed that Monson Mavunkal had connections with top police officials in the State, including Former Kerala Police Chief DGP Loknaath Behera and current ADGP Manoj Abraham as well.Earlier in November, the government gave the nod to suspend G Lakshman, Inspector-General (Traffic and Social Policing) for his purported connections with Mavunkal..The matter will be taken up next on December 1, 2021 by which time the details of the ED's investigation is expected to be placed before the Court.[Read Order]